A Day in the Life of Arthur the Mage
by 13 Pairs of Wings
Summary: May 12th in the drabble calendar 365 Days of USUK: Alfred's gotten himself into trouble yet again and now it's up to Arthur to get him un-stuck. Just another day in the life of Arthur the Mage.


**A/N:** This was my entry for May 12th in the 365 Days of USUK Calendar event. You can go see the other drabbles here: 365daysofusuk (tumblr)

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It was days like these where Arthur really wished he'd picked a different profession. In fact, that wasn't a half bad idea. Maybe he'd take an early retirement as a travelling guard and move to the city.

"Artie, I swear, the canyon came out of NO WHERE. I was walking along when suddenly there wasn't any ground under me at all! It was like magic! Not your kind of magic with the summoning things and animating stuff. I mean like _bad_ magic!"

Arthur sighed and stood up from his crouched position, thinking about how much a tailor might get paid. He stood next to the supposedly bewitched canyon. Though, calling the crack in the ground that Alfred had tumbled down a canyon was rather exaggerating its grander. An overgrown hole would have been more descriptive.

"So if you could just, like, summon a snake-thing or something that I could climb?"

Maybe an inn keeper would be a better idea.

Arthur leaned out over the edge of the overgrown hole. "Give me a second to figure out a solution more humane than summiting a poor serpent to such a task."

What was he thinking? An inn keeper would be a terrible idea. He'd drink himself out of house and home before the end of the season, and Alfred—who would undoubtedly tag along—would eat all of their food supplies within the week.

"Are you calling me fat, Artie? I thought we went over this already. This cloak adds, like, twenty pounds!" Alfred protested, spreading the offending garment and then dropping it.

The mage didn't answer. Instead he took a moment to take in their surroundings and see what he had to work with. There wasn't much. They had been travelling across a large valley somewhere in the North. All that could be seen were the mountains in the far distance and sagebrush in every direction for miles.

Maybe he could be a dog master for some lord. Dogs weren't half bad as far as companions went. Surely it would pay well.

"Hold on just a tick, love. I'm going to see how far this thing goes." Arthur kicked a pebble into the steep gully and started off east, away from the setting sun.

Apparently Alfred thought he had teleportation powers, because he felt the need to shout at the top of his lungs. "Not like I could do much else!"

It wasn't long before Arthur realised that the gully went on for some time and only got even deeper in that direction. He turned and started walking back toward Alfred. It wouldn't be long now before the sun set, and at this point if he found a way down to where the other blond was it would be best to set up camp and spend the night here.

Owning a merchant shop would be kind of nice. Maybe he could sell clocks and jewellery from far off places. The market was a bit competitive, but with a little effort he'd be able to settle down quite nicely. Surely Alfred would get bored of it all and move on to pester someone else. Of course, Arthur new he'd never let that happen. Despite his many faults, Alfred had become not just his travelling partner but a friend, and even more than that. The thought brought a smile to his face.

Upon hearing his faithful mage's return, Alfred started up a furry of questions. "Hey Artie, you're back! Did you find anything? Can you get me out? Mind being quick about it, I'm _starving_!"

Sometimes his faults were a tad more noticeable than others.

Arthur leaned over the verge of the ravine again. "No. Are you sure there isn't anything down there that we could use to get you out? A convenient length of rope perhaps?"

Alfred frowned and kicked a small rock, sending it sailing down the ravine. "Nope. I've double checked my bags and I walked a little ways west while you were gone. Not a thing."

That night they bunkered down with Alfred making a fire down where he was with sagebrush Arthur threw down to him. Al tried numerous times to get the other to make a fire too, but Arthur was paranoid and there was barely a hill until the foot of the mountains. _If_ something was out there in the night, it'd be able to pick them out from miles away.

"Arthur if you aren't going to build a fire than jump down here or something. It's getting cold and you're really cranky when you haven't had any sleep."

It was a really tempting argument, but... "I'd love to join you by the fire down there, but is it really wise for _both_ of us to get stuck down there?"

"Hmm... well I suppose we could just walk in one direction tomorrow. Surely there's a way out within a day's trek. Besides, it's not like we're low on supplies! We have four days to get to the next town that's two days away."

Alfred's argument was starting to look better all the time. Besides, with a whole day to work, Arthur could surely dig up some old earth magic if it came to that. "Alright, I'll come down, but you have to be ready to catch me. I don't fancy twisting an ankle or breaking a bone out here."

"Sure thing, Artie! You can count on me!" Alfred's smile was practically audible.

The two ended up sleeping in a warm huddled mess next to the fire, only drifting off to sleep as the sky started to brighten with sunlight. Maybe not the most comfortable of nights, but one to remember.


End file.
